These 'Chaiwalas' Own BMW Cars and SUVs

Chennai loves its cup of filter coffee to start their day, but these two gentlemen have shown that maybe tea is the way to go now. This story is of Jahabar Sadique and Balaji Sadagopan, comrades in arms who have transcended the city’s quintessential middle-class aspirations to study engineering, find a job in the IT industry, get married and settle down in life. Sadique and Sadagopan went through the motions one by one but decided to go take a risk instead of settling down. While their colleagues were busy chasing projects, targets, and promotion, they broke free of the shackles. 

They instead opened Chai Kings in October 2016 with the first outlet at Kilpauk in a 350 sq ft space with an investment of around Rs 25 lakh. It brewed so well in a multi-flavoured fashion that they took home Rs 7.4 crore from their 17 outlets during FY 2018-19, just two years after launching Chai Kings.

Today, due to their immense success, both Sadique and Sadagopan own BMWs. Sadique owns a BMW 5-series, and it is the F10 generation that just preceded the latest model and it used to come in various bodystyles in the form of a sedan, an estate, and a questionable GT form as well. He also owns BMW's premium SUV the X5 which has been a consistent strong seller for the brand globally, and it has quite a following in India as well. Sadique also own a Harley-Davidson motorcycle which makes his garage perfect for any scenario you can wish for.

Sadagopan owns the second-generation BMW X1, which is the brand’s smallest SUV offering. Instead of the rear-wheel-drive configuration that has been BMWs trademark, the new X1 is built on a new front-wheel/all-wheel-drive platform that also underpins the 2 Series Active Tourer and the Mini Countryman which gives it a larger interior. Other vehicles in the garage are an Audi A4, the brand's compact premium sedan which also comes in an estate bodystyle. Also the Audi gets a mad RS4 variant which is probably the most perfect everyday vehicle you could wish for. When it comes to two-wheelers, Sadagopan owns a G310R, BMW's smallest adventure offering in their range. the G310R is locally produced in India and shares mechanicals with the TVS Apache 310.